Analyze This Movie

Until a few days ago, Ben Sobol (Billy Crystal) was just an ordinary, humdrum, neurotic psychiatrist whose lot it was to aid those more neurotic than he. But he had the misfortune to rear-end a Mafia vehicle and to view the contents of its trunk. The driver of the car, a clay-faced hood known only as "Jelly" (Joe Viterelli), told Ben to forget the insurance. Forget any of it ever happened. Forget there was a man laying bound and gagged in the trunk.

It turns out that Jelly's boss, Paul Vitti (Robert De Niro), hasn't been feeling well lately. He hasn't been his usual heartless self. He can't beat his enemies to a pulp anymore. "You havin' one of them mind-grains?" Jelly asks. Paul insists he's having a coronary but feels well enough to pound the doctor who dares to tell him it's only an anxiety attack. Jelly decides to be helpful and gives his boss Ben Sobol's business card.

Ben recognizes Paul Vitti from the newspaper pictures; he practically has an anxiety attack of his own when Paul interrupts a therapy session to say that he needs counseling. "What is my goal here?" Ben asks. "To make you a happy, well-adjusted gangster?" No, Paul says; there's a big meeting of the country's major Mafia families in two weeks, and he can't afford to appear weak. He needs a quick cure. Ben takes the case-how can he say no to the man with the hired guns? and thus begins a wild romp that shifts rapidly between the genres of "parodistic mobster movie" and "canned Freudian soup."

Given the premise of Analyze This, we have certain expectations. We know that there must be a) a scene in which Robert De Niro embarrasses himself by spouting touchy-feely psychobabble to his Mafia rivals and b) a scene in which Billy Crystal is called upon to impersonate a gangster. I will spare you the suspense; both of these scenes are indeed in the film, one of them more than once. But the film has surprises, even within the more predictable scenes. Primo Sindone (Chazz Palminteri)'s reaction to Paul's expressed desire for "closure" is priceless, and Ben's chrome-suited "consigliglieri" is likewise not to be missed.

Analyze This is further enlivened by some decently original sequences that soar above the film's two tried-and-true stomping grounds. One of the funniest occurs roughly midway through the movie, at a point when Paul has just evaded an assassination attempt with aid from Jelly, ruining Ben's wedding at the same time (in a very subtle parody of The Godfather's baptism sequence). The ten minutes that follow contain dime-store Freudianisms turned on their heads, idiotically mushy dialogue, the only good line assigned to Ben's fiancee (Lisa Kudrow) in the entire film, and the bizarre sight of Robert De Niro emptying a machine-gun into an unoccupied sofa.

Unfortunately, the screenplay (by Kenneth Lonergan and Peter Tolan) goes downhill from there, and the stock Freudianisms-initially the objects of satire-start to take over. Worse, the film begins to take them seriously. The story of Paul's guilt over his father's murder (a murder he witnessed) contains every cliche imaginable, and could have been ripped wholesale from a Z-grade movie-of-the-week. The cheap psychology is necessary to the comedy, but it gets bogged down in its own lack of depth. Paul's cathartic moments feel as if they were intended to be touching, but, weepy and overwrought, they succeed onlyin being stupid.

Even the Godfather in-jokes, which started sowell, degenerate at points into stock silliness.The shot-for-shot recreation of the assassinationattempt on Don Corleone is funny enough, but itplays like one of Billy Crystal's Oscar-hostingstunts (and was probably meant to). Most of theother in-jokes are subtler. One of them caps off ahilarious comic sequence involving a fewquasi-crooked FBI agents; the joke so cleverlyplanned that it seems to have ended before thefinal superb surprise. The final in joke includesCrystal's "consigliglieri" speech--a parody of the"I will not seek vengeance" bit in The Godfather.While several sections of that scene are veryenjoyable, their effect is marred by the film'sweak, predictable climax.

The actors do a fine job with what they aregiven. Crystal's role is nearly identical to theone he played in Throw Momma from the Train, buthe performs well enough to make us forget that forhim the film is little more than a retread. DeNiro's acting is occasionally reminiscent of hiswork in The Untouchables, but he milks thejuxtaposition of cruel mob boss and weepy patientfor all it is worth. Joe Viterelli is uniformlyhysterical as the moronic Jelly, all but stealingthe picture from underneath those with highercredit listings. Lisa Kudrow and Chazz Palminteriare given empty pasteboard roles, but they inhabitthem well enough.

If you want to watch a funny, goofy film thatdoes not tax the brain, you will probably enjoyAnalyze This. If you want to be intellectuallyengaged by a mobster flick, rent The Godfather.Robert Duvall has Billy Crystal beat at theconsigliglieri game.Courtesy of Warner BrothersA MODEST PROPOSAL:"No, I won't be asurrogate mother for your triplets!" Lisa Kudrowstruts her stuff for Crystal and De Niro.

Even the Godfather in-jokes, which started sowell, degenerate at points into stock silliness.The shot-for-shot recreation of the assassinationattempt on Don Corleone is funny enough, but itplays like one of Billy Crystal's Oscar-hostingstunts (and was probably meant to). Most of theother in-jokes are subtler. One of them caps off ahilarious comic sequence involving a fewquasi-crooked FBI agents; the joke so cleverlyplanned that it seems to have ended before thefinal superb surprise. The final in joke includesCrystal's "consigliglieri" speech--a parody of the"I will not seek vengeance" bit in The Godfather.While several sections of that scene are veryenjoyable, their effect is marred by the film'sweak, predictable climax.

The actors do a fine job with what they aregiven. Crystal's role is nearly identical to theone he played in Throw Momma from the Train, buthe performs well enough to make us forget that forhim the film is little more than a retread. DeNiro's acting is occasionally reminiscent of hiswork in The Untouchables, but he milks thejuxtaposition of cruel mob boss and weepy patientfor all it is worth. Joe Viterelli is uniformlyhysterical as the moronic Jelly, all but stealingthe picture from underneath those with highercredit listings. Lisa Kudrow and Chazz Palminteriare given empty pasteboard roles, but they inhabitthem well enough.

If you want to watch a funny, goofy film thatdoes not tax the brain, you will probably enjoyAnalyze This. If you want to be intellectuallyengaged by a mobster flick, rent The Godfather.Robert Duvall has Billy Crystal beat at theconsigliglieri game.Courtesy of Warner BrothersA MODEST PROPOSAL:"No, I won't be asurrogate mother for your triplets!" Lisa Kudrowstruts her stuff for Crystal and De Niro.